But first, coffee...

Kona Coffee Purveyors

Sure to thrill even the fussiest of caffeine aficionados, Kona Coffee Purveyors’ airy café (konacoffeepurveyors.com) at Waikiki’s International Market Place prides itself on serving the finest cortados in town. The affogato is ideal for a steamy day and the flat white is flawless, particularly when accompanied by one of the decadent Breton-style kouign-amann pastries.

The place for poke bowls

MKU You’ll find the city’s best poke at Ahi Assassins Fish Co. (2570 South Beretania Street, Honolulu; +1 808 439 4045). All the fish is Hawaiian and as fresh as you can get. And nothing is wasted – for something different, try the fried fish bones. CTF There’s so much debate over this in Honolulu. Alicia’s Market (alicias market.com) was the place for poke long before the dish exploded in popularity. It serves classic styles – the flavours I grew up with – like ahi with a slightly sweet shoyu sauce, crunchy seaweed and onion.

Iconic dish

MKU The malasadas – Portuguese-style doughnuts – at Pipeline Bakeshop & Creamery (pipelinebakeshop.com) are extraordinary. Sticking with tradition, they’re not filled but are instead dusted with flavoured sugar, such as salted plum or cinnamon. They fry them as soon as you order, not before, so they’re crisp on the outside and delightfully fluffy inside. CTF Saimin, a simple noodle dish found only in Hawaii. The noodles and broth are traditionally Asian but the toppings vary from Spam to slivers of scrambled egg. My favourite is from Palace Saimin (1256 North King Street, Honolulu; +1 808 841 9983), one of the oldest saimin shops in the state.

To try Hawaii’s famous shave ice

MKU I think the one we make at MW Restaurant (mwrestaurant.com) is pretty amazing. It isn’t your typical version, which comes from a block of ice and has sugary toppings; we shave frozen puréed fruit onto a bed of tapioca then serve it with mochi ice-cream and fresh fruit. My favourite flavour is mango; when it’s in season we go through 300 pounds [136 kilograms] of mango a week. CTF Shimazu Store (shimazu-store. business.site) boasts more than 70 toppings, including unusual offerings like milk tea, bananas Foster and crème brûlée. I could eat shave ice every day.